This invention relates to a cover assembly for a bed of a pickup truck.
Cover assemblies for the rear bed of a pickup truck comprising a pair of cover panels upwardly pivotal about the longitudinal center line of the truck bed are known in the prior art. These cover assemblies are designed to protect loads carried in the back of the truck from the elements and from theft. These previously known cover assemblies are deficient in certain respects, notably the type of sealing provided to seal the truck bed for moisture. Also, such cover assemblies have not been light and easy to install or remove from the truck bed as is desirable.
For example, one type of cover assembly may be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 3,866,972 to Reese. Reese provides for sealing around the periphery of the cover assembly by means of rubber gaskets resting against the tops of the side walls of the truck bed. Such sealing means has proven unreliable due to distortion of the truck bed and irregularities in the shape thereof. As well, it is possible for water to be forced between the gasket and the top of the truck bed to wet the load carried therein. Along the center line of the cover assembly, Reese provides sealing by means of an upwardly opening U-shaped central frame member and downwardly extending rims on the inside edges of the cover panels overlapping the upwardly extending flanges of the central frame member. However, during winter conditions, the U-shaped frame member may be filled with ice and snow, preventing the opening of the cover panels.
Another such cover assembly is disclosed in U.S. Pat No. 3,420,570 Kunz. Again, Kunz depends upon sealing between the cover panels and the top of the truck bed. For sealing along the center line of the assembly, Kunz depends upon a sheet of rubber material covering a single hinge or several smaller hinges. This rubber material is subject to deterioration and damage, particularly when it flexes as the cover panels are opened.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,514,152 to Hermon discloses another cover assembly for truck beds. Hermon also depends upon weather stripping between the top of the truck bed and the covers for sealing.
Other cover assemblies are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,765,717; 4,079,989, and 2,757,041.